Workshops with Beverley Wells...experiences to remember

Not sure where to start really.....

At the beginning is best I expect so it is true to say that I have wanted to do a Bev Wells workshop for a good few years now...probably as long as I have known of her existence but as the journey is close to 31/2 hours from "up North"  to those posh sunnier climes of Spalding in Lincolnshire I have never taken the plunge and booked one.

Those who read my blog regularly will know that Bev has been mentoring me for a few months now and the desire to attend a session has been growing stronger until I could no longer resist and I booked to go this last weekend. Bev kindly invited me to attend her Friday class with the "Friday Girls" and I decided to set off at an unearthly hour on the Friday morning to make sure I arrived in time... I wasn't going to miss a single second of the wisdom I knew Bev had to share.

The icing on the cake then unexpectedly came my way when Bev posted on fb that she had a couple of places come available and I had a brainwave... why not ask the lovely Polly Birchall... she of Annie Arkwright fame!! Her response was favourable and after staying overnight with us and bellies full of spag bol ( from dinner the night before) we set off at 6.00am for our adventure to Lincolnshire.

Now, we had a list of materials and instructions which was a completely different experience for us both, we needed Arches Cold pressed paper (I don't use it), home made tracedown (what!! with instructions of how to do it), stretched paper (with staples) and my trusty unstretched rough paper was relegated to the boot for the duration of the workshops!!

We also had slight concerns as to the speed of things, as we are both very fast painters so we both went armed with other images in case we needed other things to paint. How wrong we were... about everything!!

I think I had Bev rather worried before we went...fast painter, never stretches, uses rough paper, and a firm graduate of the "slap it on and see" School of Painting. However she asked me to allow her to entertain me and learn from her.....as she pointed out, I know how to paint my way and of course I do bow to her knowledge and wisdom anyway, so I would have been a fool not to do as she said.

Bev runs a regular class on Fridays where she hates being described as a teacher. However when I looked up one definition of the word teacher...the description (which fits Bev to a tee) is

"teaching is imparting knowledge or skill"

which describes what Bev does in her workshops in bucket loads. They are sessions full of discussion, debate and banter which Polly and I absolutely loved.

The other thing which made a huge impression on me is the professionalism and extent of Bev's preparation. Her workshop piece was framed ready for us all to view and she had drawings, tonal plans a laminated step by step card and her own very precious book of value plans where she has tried out different options and then on the opposite page a full tonal painting in beautiful black watercolour. 

Both the Friday class and the workshop followed a similar format (though there are some who paint alternative subjects in the classes where Bev will advise and help where needed)... in essence everyone discusses the plan for the painting, the planning part for Bev is by far the most important and she has spent the days and weeks before planning her subject, planning the composition and then creating her value plans, her sketch and finally her painting. 

Once the theory behind the plan and then the colour choices have been thoroughly dissected and analysed, Bev starts the painting and the group follow as a step by step. The Friday class was slightly different to the workshop as they could if they wanted create their own value plan (which I did before I went to the class as Bev has e-mailed through the image) whereas in the workshop we all followed Bev's plan.

Bev is very specific about her own colour choices and is exceedingly knowledgeable about colour mixing and understanding the properties of paint. My own method is much less informed (mixing my colour planets) but I do think my colour choices are a strength and so that is one area of my work I am happy to stick with, though my journey with colour continues and I am constantly learning more about which combinations work or don't work.

Though I love painting flowers which was the workshop topic, I was delighted at the subject choice for the Friday class and using my new ipad and pencil set about my own value plan. I have finally learned how to create different tones using the tools and I was really pleased with this digital painting..

 Bev had produced a line drawing for the class to use and again this is very specific as it has been drawn to proportions which create the composition within the specific size of paper. Those who read my blog may remember I did make mention of this in terms of creating my value plan on the ipad and then having to approximate in the scaling up process. I'm sure I will be able to solve this technical problem but I do see the point of creating your drawing the actual size, then doing an accurate transfer onto the paper.

My colour choices were slightly different to Bevs as I do like to inject a bit of self. Bev had liked my value plan which I used as well so although I did adopt Bev's way of painting... very wet in wet which I love anyway, I felt more that the painting was mine, not just a copy of Bev's.

Here is the painting.... not exactly as the tonal as the drawing is slightly different, but the idea is there of following the pattern of darks and lights as I had already prepared in my plan.

The workshop was actually about mark making but initially the painting process was similar to the previous day and Bev has a lovely wet in wet technique which I really must start to use a lot more for my own work. I tend to paint wet on dry for a variety of reasons but each day all who attended had wonderful results although all very different.

Once we were nearing the end of the painting the time had come to do some mark making both with watercolour paper and the end of a computer stylus, very effective and the whole process of working like that reminded me of how good it is to play and experiment....something I should do a lot more of!

I haven't shared the value plan for this as that belongs to Bev and so not appropriate for me to share. I probably won't share many of my plans in the future either.....

In this I have to say that the drawing, composition, colour choices, value plans are all Bev's and while I don't normally do this when I attend workshops there were good reason for all those things as I mentioned earlier and not much point attending to simply do your own thing. The main difference in this and other step by steps is that we were given so much information to use and take away to incorporate into our own work.....this doesn't always happen when you do a step by step but in this workshop we were given many tips and tools to apply to our own work.

As an aside, I would have thought that this workshop was definitely not for beginners and for the best part I would have said that everyone was a pretty experienced painter... with one exception, Jan with whom I have corresponded on fb. When she saw that Bev had places available she also booked to come and as a beginner with not much extra help at all, she did a fabulous painting......more testimony to the exceptional "teaching" and guidance Bev gave us throughout the day.

Bev's mantra is "Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Fail" and this is not only evident in her planning for her own work but also for these classes and workshops. I have never ever attended a workshop with so much attention to detail, these workshops are meticulously planned and the results of her efforts are there to see in her own paintings and the paintings we all achieved.

In conclusion I cannot recommend this workshop highly enough....Bev is honest, forthright and very generous with her praise where due, but more importantly very generous in her sharing of her wealth of knowledge and that is definitely not always the case!!!
 

An Update on my Colour Planets (and other things too)

I have had a lot of questions recently about my colour planets (click for the link to the blog post) and though the blog post remains true to this day I thought I might update it with a bit of extra information.

As many of you know when I come to choose my colours I simply have a look at my palette, sometimes think which colours haven't I used for a while and what might go with them and what will make  a nice combination that might look good with my subject. So very unscientific to say the least!!

I don't always use my planets now but if I find I am losing my way with colour choices or a bit uncertain I go back to them and they ALWAYS make a difference.

When looking at my options I always choose one (or sometimes more) colours which will give me the darkest tonal value... all paints will give the lightest values simply by adding more and more water but  not all colours will give the darkest values and even if it is only for the slightest touches, some really good darks will make your work sing. Colours such as Indigo, prussian, Ub, purple, burnt/raw umber etc.

So I start by adding my prospective colours fairly wet but quite concentrated to my paper (usually in a circle hence the name planets) adding more water to allow the the different colours to mix (water is the transporter so paint will only flow where the paper is wet). I start usually with 3 colours and then may decide I need another one or at most two more. Once the paint is on my paper I watch it mix and mingle and judge the effect I am getting....the colours produce the mood and atmosphere so it is clear very quickly if I like or if I think they will suit my subject.

Once I have chosen my colours I use only those choices. This helps in two ways, first to harmonize colour around the painting and second it takes away any decisions you might have to make mid painting when you may be rushing and you may not make good choices... you know which colours you are using as you have already decided so all greens are made with what you have chosen, all oranges, purples and everything in between all from your initial choices. I often find it helps me to work only with tone once I have chosen my colours and simply apply the paint in darks, mid tones and lights as I see them in my reference. Here is an example

This was a dull Autumnal day with not much light but I liked the gate which is sort of hidden along a private road close to where I live. I didn't want to paint exactly as I saw and decide to try an unusual colour scheme of Turq, purple and burnt sienna and all my colours were mixed with these 3 colours... this was the painting

As you can see the colours bear no resemblance to the reference but I like to think it is an attractive piece in it's own right and maybe has added something to the original photo.

Here is another example...a photo I took of a chocolate box cottage in the Lake District. I have painted this subject many times but each time adds a new dimension as I choose a different palette

This first example is an xmassy theme using purple, burnt sienna and green gold... lovely cool feel to this one and exactly the sort of atmosphere I was looking for

The next example was done in Brusho and I think you can see has a completely different atmosphere but still only limited colours, Turquoise , purple, yellow and emerald green (I think, it's a while since I did this one but you get the idea...)

And finally a painting of my friend's dog Holly a gorgeous Shitzu cross

I can't actually find the reference for this but basically it was a B&W photo which I interpreted with colour... indigo, translucent orange, opera pink and raw and burnt sienna. Colours placed randomly around the face paying attention only to tonal value.
 
2 things I am trying to get across here.

First is that you don't need many colours to create a good painting and the more colours you use especially when you are in the early stages of your journey the less likely you are to get a good result. But the secret of choosing a good colour scheme is to try it our BEFORE you start and one way to do that is to use a colour planet.

Second you don't need to be a slave to your photograph in fact have the confidence that you can steer away from it and actually improve the image and give it an added dimension.  I have to say this one took a while to sink in with me as I never thought I could improve on the information a photograph gave me... after all that was nature and that's what it was like... so wrong and now the last thing I want to do is create a photographic representation so even if I decide to recreate my subject as close to life as possible I will always play around with a different background and add colours and tones which will enhance my subject, pitching light against dark and placing complimentary colours together. these tricks will all help to enhance the image, will add another dimension and create truly individual work.

As many of you will know I mix paint on my paper so by using the colour planets it gives me a really good idea of how my painting will look and how the paints interact together.

Losing my Way?

I have done a bit of painting recently and been really unhappy with it... for some reason the colours haven't been right and I think it is because I have lost my way with colour and have been veering towards more realistic work....no idea why and so this afternoon I have gone back to my colour planets and guess what, am much happier with the result.

So what has been going on? Frankly I have no idea... maybe I have been getting lazy or complacent thinking each painting is just going to happen, well it hasn't been happening and I think it is because I have stopped playing with colour so for this piece I went back to basics, did a bit of colour mixing before I started and as I said I am happier.

Some of you will know from way back that trees and all those masses of foliage were my nemesis so I am constantly challenging myself to somehow get them right and I am nowhere near as "scared" of them as I once was and  no longer feel the need to avoid them. This is a painting I did in Brusho not long ago but wanted to try in watercolour. It is a property opposite Rivington Church and very close to the village which just pokes out of the foliage...I often take photos while we are walking the dog of possible images to paint and as they are generally landscapes ( my current nemesis), I have been avoiding them like the plague... but buildings and streetscapes (another nemesis... how many more do I need!!)... well I have been working on them and making a bit of progress... I prefer the watercolour to my Brusho version, here...

So I will be interested to hear what you think..I think the watercolour is more subtle and a better painting but I did take more time over it and gave it a lot more thought!!

A very limited palette

UB
Alizarin Crimson
Cad Yellow
Burnt Sienna
May Green

Colour Thoughts

I know I mention colour in virtually every blog I write but thought a full blog on colour where I tie everything together would be useful. I get asked a lot about colour on all my workshops and I find as I progress I get more and more specific about what I want from a particular colour. Anyone new to my blog might be interested to read about the colour planets I do before starting a painting especially if I want to find a new interesting combination or I am looking for something specific which I feel will compliment the subject. What I am not necessarily looking for is to find exact colours to match my subject although I do that as well. I am looking for colours which may not immediately be what you might choose but because of the way I mix them will still look attractive.

I also choose a dark colour so that I have something which will give me a good deep tone... it isn't colour which defines a subject it is shape, and tonal value is what helps to give you the shape of a subject. My dark may be a blue, a purple, brown or sometimes a red but it has to be a colour which will give a full range of value so for example a palette with lemon yellow, permanent rose and cobalt blue doesn't have the very darkest values and so I would either swap a colour or add in another to give me the range.

I have spent a lot of time studying colour and am still learning and as you will have read do not keep my colours to a limited palette although for any one painting I rarely use more than 6 colours... I love having a good choice and enjoy all the different colours and particularly those which can't be mixed... W&N opera rose is a prime example... a vibrant almost fluorescent pink which is unlike any other colour and impossible to mix at least not with the colours I have. Schmincke Translucent Orange is another.... impossible to get from any red or yellow at least any that I have in my palette!!

I have listed the colours in my palette here, and I think I have only added a small number since, perylene green would be one, a lovely silver green, and interestingly I am realising that the more adventurous colour combinations come when I am painting animals....with flowers I tend to stick with matching the colour to the flower and maybe adding something a bit more adventurous for the backgrounds though invariably the bg will have some of the flower colour mixed with it. With animals I either see potential colour mixes or if  don't see them, I make them up testing them on a planet. I often work from B&W images for animals so I am not bound by the colour I see ... I find I can be a bit more inventive and creative if I'm not viewing the subject in full colour feeling freer to experiment with anything I think might look different and interesting.

Four colours I have been using a lot recently are UB, Permanent Aliz Crimson, Burnt Sienna and Raw Sienna... I seem to have been drawn to them for a number of paintings recently, I sometimes add in a prussian blue as well and a cad yellow for some brightness but am going to start experimenting again with some of the other colours. I really like Turquoise but don't seem to have used much of it recently so for no other reason I might introduce it into the next painting I do.... scientific eh?

One thing I do really want to emphasise is that although I really believe there are no rules for painting, there is no substitute for getting to know the colours you have in your palette, get to understand the tonal value they will give you, learn how they interact with other colours, and it can only be done with practice... it's fine to read all about them, about analagous, harmonious, complimentary colours, opaque colours, transparents, staining but reading and doing are two different things and the only thing which will give you a understanding of your colours is to use them!!

One example to illustrate the point is a colour called Winsor Red... a rich red, veering slighty more towards pink than cad red... I have used it to paint the red shoes both for the shoes and  bg. When I come to add it on the paper to mix with the prussian blue or indigo, whichever blue I am using it explodes and takes over, pushing the blue away quite significantly. For that reason I now know I have to go easy with it when mixing with other colours if I don't want it to take over, other colours do this but non as pronounced as the Winsor Red. Granulation is also another property colours may have but it is so much easier to remember it when you see it happening rather than just reading about it, easier to see how an opaque colour can both lift or dull a painting depending on how and when you use it, easier to see how much livelier colour can be when mixed and mingled on the paper rather than in the palette... seeing is believing!! So get your paints out and play!!